Ratos de Porao

Latest Ratos de Porao News

Below is our complete Ratos de Porao news coverage, including columns and articles pertaining to the band. Some articles listed may be indirectly related, such as side projects of the band members, etc.

Brazilian legends Ratos De Porão will embark on a European headlining tour sprinkled through with festival stops in June and July. Check out the tour itinerary below, with more dates still to be added in the coming months.

There are some bands that you resign yourself to never experiencing live. Whether it's because the group in question is a cult favourite from another country, have been disbanded for years and aren't on speaking terms, or simply because they're all dead (which puts a Ramones reunion out of the window,) we all have bands that we say, "Oh, I would have loved to have seen them." Fortunately, through the magic of travel and immigration, I was able to defy my expectations and witness one of the greatest bands in the history of Brazilian heavy music, Ratos de Porão.

Taking place at the Garaje Beat Club in the southern city of Murcia, a venue which holds the gritty, down to Earth vibe of a punk hangout, while also having air condition (which trust me, is a Godsend in this part of the world,) and a small, leather sofa upstairs, the club is one of the most impressive I've visited anywhere. Opening the show was the only Spanish band on the bill, Fuckop Family, a strange collective from Alicante but one well worth checking out. Whilst probably best described as a hardcore band, there was plenty of variation in their sound, especially when showcasing their reggae and ska influences. Heavy music and toasting may not sound like the ideal marriage, but these boys made it work. A good start to the evening, though perhaps their set was a little long for an opening act. More...

Whilst Brazil is known primarily in the metal world for Sepultura, they have produced a number of other excellent bands such as Sarcofago, Krisiun, and of course, the legendary Ratos de Porão. The band made their name in the early eighties punk scene but were never shy about showing off their heavy metal influences and making friends with metal bands, particularly the aforementioned Sepultura, whose drummer, Igor Cavalera, helped the band sign with Roadrunner Records towards the end of the decade.

Their first album through the label was, "Brasil," widely regarded by both fans and critics to be one of their best works, thanks to strong tracks such as, "Sofrer," "Amazônia Nunca Mais" and of course, the drinking anthem, "Beber Até Morrer," which roughly translates to, "drink 'til you die." The song, as is typical of the band, is a relatively short, but furiously fun blast of energy, performed at a very quick tempo, with enough room for melody and a sing along chourus which Ratos de Porão were one of the best at writing. It's one of their more jaunty tunes, not steeped in the critiques of capitalism and the mistreatment of Brazil's poor, proving that even those seen as the little people by those on high, no matter how literally huge, can enjoy themselves as much as anyone. More...

Last Friday, the only remaining original carrier of the most influential name in rock music sadly left us.

Tommy Ramone, the last original member of the Ramones, was the sole survivor of the legendary quartet for ten years following the passing of guitarist Johnny Ramone in September 2004 and with no original members left alive, the Ramones will now be consigned to folklore.

They didn’t sell as many records as the Rolling Stones, open the listeners minds to new concepts like the Beatles, or even reach the big arenas in their home country, but the Ramones changed the face of rock and roll forever, somewhat literally in fact, as their uniform of denim of leather would become adopted by metal fans not even five years after they released their self-titled debut. This was just one of the ways that these four young Stooges fans would influence the music they were accused of trying to replicate.

The most important thing about any band should always be the music, and this where the Ramones helped to change things the most. Spectators of their earliest concerts in CBGB’s recall a constant barrage of noise, an assault on the eardrums without the musicians on stage giving an ounce of a fuck what the audience thought. A description fit for heavy metal if ever there was one. Of course, the first people to use the Ramones as a template for their bands were many of the young punks in Britain, a place where the band would sell out every time, in larger venues than the ones back home too. The Clash, The Damned and Stiff Little Fingers are just a few of the time who adored the Queens quartet and the DIY ethics they espoused helped bring metal back to street level when the New Wave of British Heavy Metal came along, an early fusion of punk rock and the earlier heavy metal such as Budgie, Judas Priest and Van Halen.

A number of the NWOBHM artists cite the Ramones as an influence, including former Iron Maiden frontman, Paul Di’anno, who in an interview for the bonus disc of his album, "The Living Dead," referred to Joey Ramone as the most recognisable voice in rock. Early recordings of the bands live shows, and indeed the ferocious speed they brought to the recording studio, certainly showcase what could be regarded as an early form of thrash metal. The break neck speed, chainsaw guitar and confrontational vocals fit into any playlist alongside the likes of Exodus or Vio-Lence and before long, several recognised names in the thrash genre such as Metallica, Rigor Mortis, Ratos de Porao and Anthrax would cover their songs, not to mention the band being honoured by another forbearer of thrash, Motorhead in their song, "R.A.M.O.N.E.S." More...

Brazilian crossover veterans Ratos De Porao, who are celebrating 33 years as a band, have a new album due out shortly titled "Seculo Sinistro" A full album stream of all thirteen tracks has been posted online, along with the track listing, which you may stream below.

Brazillian crossover thrash legends, Ratos De Porão has posted a short trailer online for their forthcoming new studio album, "Século Sinistro." You can check it out below. The album will mark their first release of all new material since the 2006 effort, "Homem Inimigo do Homem" and is expected to be released next month, with a set date yet to be confirmed. No further information is available at this time. More...

The Obscene Extreme Festival America 2014 preliminary line-up has been posted at the All Metalfest site. Below is a list of the bands that will be appearing, ranging from Ratos de Porao, Napalm Death, Dying Fetus and Doom to Vaginal Bear Trap. The 2014 edition of the popular festival will be taking place in Los Angeles from August 29th-31st. Get more information on the event over at the Obscene Extreme official website.

The OEF Europe, held in Trutnov, Czech Republic, has spawned the American, Australian and Asian versions of the event as well. Last year, the American OEF 2013 took place in Valle de Las Monjas, Mexico and featured an act that will be back at this year's edition - Mexican pornogrind band Urtikaria Anal. Check out the band's 2013 album "Kamikaze Orgy" in full after the line-up of bands. More...

For many people, the mere mention of Brazilian metal will instantly, and in some case solely, conjure up memories of Belo Horizonte’s, Sepultura. But if one were to look deeper at the heavy music of this vast and amazing country, a treasure trove of great music will be uncovered. Today, we look at one of the oldest heavy acts from Brazil that are still going, who made a name for themselves in both the punk and metal scenes, led by a larger than life vocalist named João Gordo, whose very name means fat. I'm talking of course, about Ratos de Porão. Ratos de Porão were formed in 1981 in Sao Paolo, the largest city in Brazil and were almost immediately considered one of the most aggressive and fierce sounding bands in the Brazilian punk scene, thanks largely to them being more influenced by the UK82 bands such as Discharge and The Exploited than the previous punk scene that inspired their contemporaries. They focused their lyrical themes on speaking out against the Brazilian government and society, a concept that was somewhat radical for a band from Brazil to do, given how oppressive the government was compared to other countries with flourishing punk scenes, including the United States and Great Britain. The lyrics shone through on their debut album, "Crucificados Pelo Sistema," which was released in 1983 through Ataque Frontal and immediately established itself as one of the most abrasive punk records ever to come from Brazil. Despite the attention their debut received, the group was forced to call it a day soon afterwards, when the punk scene in Sao Paolo was all but dissolved thanks to gang violence.

The group didn’t stay inactive for long, returning to the scene in 1985 with more of a thrash metal take on their sound. Lead singer João Gordo remained, as did original drummer Jão Carlos, who switched to guitar, his place behind the drum kit being taken by a man named Spaguetti. After releasing their second album, "Descanse Em Paz" through Baratos Afins, they began to associate with the heavy metal scene a lot more, perhaps most noticeably with four long time fans who had a band of their own named Sepultura, as well as other soon to be known bands such as Korzus. RxDxPx then released their third album in 1987, entitled "Cada Dia Mais Sujo e Agressivo," which was their first album to be released in English, as well as their native Portuguese, a move they had previously shied away from for fear that their grasp of the English language was so poor that fans outside Brazil would make fun of them. More...